Let Mama Back on the Train

“Don’t blame us!” That’s a common refrain from my parents when one of their offspring recounts the connection between a childhood experience and a current woe. According to an interesting piece by Brian Boutwell, they might have a point: “I want you to consider the possibility that your parents did not shape you as a person. Despite how it feels, your mother and father (or whoever raised you) likely imprinted almost nothing on your personality that has persisted into adulthood. Pause for a minute and let that heresy wash across your synapses.” Why parenting may not matter. I’m not sure how much of this article I agree with, but it’s quickly become my kids’ favorite bedtime story.

+ There’s no doubt that our genes affect our kids. But we might also be passing down our experiences. Here’s Carl Zimmer in the NYT: “Scientists were investigating a tantalizing but controversial hypothesis: that a man’s experiences can alter his sperm, and that those changes in turn may alter his children.”